Reference is made to the following patents and applications by the same assignee, the disclosure of each of which provides further details which may be used in the machines disclosed herein:
U.S. Pat. No. 8,245,489 (Talbot) issued Aug. 21, 2012 which discloses a combine harvester where the header is carried on gauge wheels.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,225,903 (Dunn) issued Jul. 24, 2012 which discloses a tractor of the type suitable for use herein where the tractor includes a suspension system.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,020,648 (Otto) issued Sep. 20, 2011 which discloses a tractor of the type suitable for use herein where the tractor has a rear suspension.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,958,706 (Remillard) issued Jun. 14, 2011 which discloses a tractor of the type suitable for use herein where the tractor includes a reel speed control.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,918,076 (Talbot) issued Apr. 5, 2011 which discloses a header of the type suitable for use herein where the header has three sections which include a balance of lifting forces across the three sections.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,721,830 (Dunn) issued May 25, 2010 which discloses a tractor of the type suitable for use herein with steering control.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,373,769 (Talbot) issued May 20, 2008 which discloses a header with a wear shield under the cutter bar.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,347,277 (Enns) issued Mar. 25, 2008 which discloses a header with a self-contained transport system.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,472,533 (Talbot) issued Jan. 6, 2009 which discloses a header with a cutter bar and draper with a seal between the draper and cutter bar.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,159,687 (Dunn) issued Jan. 9, 2007 which discloses a tractor of the type suitable for use herein where the tractor carries a header across a front face thereof for movement across the field for forming a swath from a standing crop where the tractor can be reversed in direction for transport.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,197,865 (Enns) issued Apr. 3, 2007 which discloses a header for mounting across a front face of the tractor above for movement across the field for forming a swath from a standing crop where the header includes ground wheels movable from field positions to a transport position where the header can be turned through 90 degrees and pulled by the tractor in a longitudinal direction behind the tractor.
A machine of this type generally includes a crop header for cutting a standing crop including a header frame, a cutter extending across a front cutter bar of the header frame for cutting the crop, and a transport system operable to transport the crop to a central discharge opening of the header so as to form a swath.
Typically the cutter is a sickle knife of the type described in the above patents but in some cases other types of cutter can be used. In many cases the transport device is a draper but other types of transport including augers can be used.
The machine further includes a tractor or other vehicle for carrying the header including a tractor frame having a first end and a second end, ground wheels for supporting the tractor in movement across the ground including a pair of transversely spaced first wheels at the first end, a mounting assembly at the first end of the tractor frame for supporting the header, and a lift arrangement for raising and lowering the mounting assembly.